Japanese Particles are small words that indicate relations of words within a sentence.

Most of Japanese learners are not found of particles and most teachers don’t make things
easier. If you have trouble keeping all the particles straight, this guide will illuminate you by
explaining how to perfectly use them. Take on the quiz at the end of this guide to test your
understanding of Japanese Particles.

 は (wa) (In hiragana character it’s は= HA but in Particles it pronounce as WA)

 を (o) (it pronounce as O)
 も (mo)
 に (ni)
 へ (e) (In hiragana character it’s HE but in particles it pronounce as E)
 で (de)
 が (ga)
 から (kara)
 まで (made)
 と (to)
 や (ya)
 の (no)
 ね (ne)
 よ (yo)
How to use Japanese Particles?

は (wa) follows the topic the speaker wants to talk about. Therefore, wa（は）is often called
topic marking particle. The “topic” is often the grammatical subject, but can be anything
(including the grammatical object, and sometimes the verb), and it may also follow some
other particles.

Formation: [ A ] wa [ B ] desu. = [ A ] is [ B ].

Example:

きのう　は　あめ　だった。
Kinō wa ame 　datta.
It was rainy yesterday.

を (o) marks the grammatical object of a sentence. It follows nouns and noun phrases.

Formation: Noun + o (を) + verb

Example: わたし　は　ちょこ　を　たべます。
Watashi wa choko o tabemasu.
I eat chocolate.

も (mo) functions as “also” or “too” in English. It is used to indicate that something that

has previously been stated also holds true for the item currently under discussion. It
replaces ga, wa or o when used.
Formation：　　　[Object1] は [property1/action1] です
　　　　　　　　[Object2] も [property1/action1] です.

Example：

A: わたし　は　フランス人です。
Watashi wa furansujin desu.
I am French.
B: わたしもフランス人です。
Watashi mo furansujin desu.
I am also French.

に (ni) indicates a place toward where someone or something moves. It is preceded by the

name of the place and followed by a verb which indicates a moving action such as iku (いく)
“to go.”
It is also used with giving/receiving verbs and can then mean “from”.
In the case of passive verbs, it marks the grammatical agent, making it the same as “by” in
English. (i.e. “my wallet was stolen by my brother.” ).
に is also used to indicate the location of existence when combined with the verbs いる or あ
る, making it the Japanese version of “at” (in some instances).

Formation：　　place + ni 　(に)

Example：　　　がっこう　に　いきます。
　　　　　　　Gakkō ni ikimasu.
　　　　　　　I go to school.

へ (e) is basically the same as に, except it emphasizes direction over arrival. The main
difference is usage. へ is never used as “from”, “by”, “at”.
In addition, the particle の can follow the へ particle directly, whereas it cannot follow に.

Formation：　Location/direction + e(へ)

Example: かれ　へ てがみ　を　おくりました。
Kare e tegami o okurimashita.
I sent him a letter.

で (de) is used to indicate location of an action. The performer of the action (the subject) is
followed by either of the particles wa or ga, and the place is followed by de.
However it can’t be used with the verbs いる or ある.

Formation: Location + de (で)

Example: わたし　は　いえで ほん　を　よみます。
Watashi wa ie de hon o yomimasu.
I read books at home.

が (ga) marks the grammatical subject of a sentence when it is first introduced to a

conversation. It can also be used to join sentences, like the word “but”, but that が is
technically a different word. The particle が can also be used to emphasize the subject or
distinguish it from others. While は is used when a question word (who, where, etc) comes
after the topic in the sentence (レストランはどこですか。), we use the particle が when the
question word is the subject or part of it.

Example　　だれ が きますか。
　　　　　Dare ga kimasu ka.
　　　　　Who will come?

から (kara) indicates the source of an object or action. This starting position may be either
a point in space (in which case it is translated as “from”), or a point in time (in which case it
is translated as “since” or “after”).

Formation：　　　Noun + kara (から)

Example：　　　がっこう から いえ まで どれくらいかかりますか。
　　　　　　　　Gakkō kara ie made dorekurai kakarimasu ka?
　　　　　　　How long does it take you to get home from school?

まで (made) indicates that an action/effect extends or reaches a specified limit or a point

in time or space. It is therefore equivalent to the English expression “until.”

Formation: Noun + made (まで)

Example: かのじょ と ７じ まで  どらいぶ しました。

Kanojo to shichi-ji made doraibu shimashita.
I went driving around with my girlfriend until 7 o’clock

と (to) is used to join nouns together into an exhaustive list that functions as a single noun:
”with”, “and”. It’s also the particle used to indicate a direct quote (from someone’s mind or
speech), functioning like quotation marks in English.

Formation: Noun + to (と) + Noun

Example: にくと さかな が すき です。

Niku to sakana ga suki desu.
I like meat and fish.

や (ya) is used in the same way as the first sense of と, but the list is not exhaustive. It
means “such things as A, B, and C”.
Formation: AやB
AやBや

Example あか や  きいろ の はな が さいていた。

Aka ya kīro no hana ga saiteita.
There were red, yellow and other color flowers blooming.

の (no) indicates possession (functioning like the English “apostrophe-S”). In the structure

A no B, B belongs to A, however, many nouns act like adjectives when followed by no.
It directly follows nouns and noun phrases.

Formation: Object1 + の + Object2

Example: あなた の 名前はなんですか。
Anata no namae wa nan desuka?
What’s your name?

ね (ne) is used at the end of sentences, basically in the same way as an English tag
question. If said with rising intonation, it indicates a request for confirmation from the
listener (i.e. “It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?” ), whereas if said with falling intonation, it’s used
as rhetorical device (i.e. “It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it.” )

Formation: End of the sentence + ne (ね)

Example: これ は おいしい です ね 。

Kore wa oishii desu ne .
This is delicious, isn’t it?

よ (yo) is used by the speaker to express a strong conviction about something or to

emphatically declare something.

Formation : End of the sentence + yo (よ)

Example : あした わたし は いく よ 。

Ashita Watashi wa iku yo .
I’ll go tomorrow!

QUIZ
1. おちゃ（　　）のみます。
a. で
b. に
c. が
d. を

2. デパート（　　）かいものします。

a. で
b. を
c. へ
d. に

3. わたし（　　　）　かばんです。

a. も
b. に
c. の
d. は

4. ジョンさん（　　　）　テレビ を みます。

a. は
b. が
c. に
d. の

5. ともだち （　　　）　アメリカへいきます。

a. を
b. に
c. で
d. と